Popular

Community

GPB Passport is the new member benefit that provides you with extended access to an on-demand library of quality local and national public television programming, including tens of thousands of hours of your favorite programs.

Number of Black-owned Businesses in Georgia Doubles

Joshua Stewart

Updated: 5 years ago.

A newly released Census Bureau survey finds the number of black- and African-American-owned businesses in Georgia doubled between 2002 and 2007. The number of all businesses in the state grew by a much-smaller 34 percent. (Image Courtesy of Colleen Lane via Flickr.)

One in five businesses in Georgia is run by black or African-American owners, according to new survey data from the Census Bureau.

The new information is from the 2007 Survey of Business Owners, and it shows more than 180,000 black-owned firms in the Georgia, an increase of 103 percent since 2002.

Meanwhile, the number of all Georgia businesses grew by 34 percent.

“We have a rich climate here of entrepreneurial resources, including the Small Business Administration’s district office, the numerous [Small Business Development Center] offices, and other organizations, including churches [and] faith-based organizations that provide entrepreneurial training,” said Eric Bonaparte, director of minority business development and assistant state director of the Georgia SBDC network.

Bonaparte said the growth is from brand new companies and existing companies moving to Georgia.

“We have a lot of individuals who have been downsized and right-sized who have corporate experience who now want to start their own business,” he said.

“We have people who have brought businesses from other parts of the country here because they’ve heard that it’s not only a great opportunity as far as resources, but the interstates and rents and access to information and technologies is wonderful here.”

Bonaparte said the survey likely understates the number of businesses owned by African-Americans in the state.

Georgia has the second-highest number of black-owned businesses, behind only New York.